1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a display device, and more particularly, to a flexible printed circuit (FPC) film applied to the display device.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Display devices for displaying images have been developed, for example, liquid crystal display (LCD) device, plasma display panel (PDP), organic light emitting display (OLED) device, and etc.
Hereinafter, a flexible printed circuit (FPC) film applied to a related art LCD device, one of the display devices, will be described as follows.
FIG. 1 illustrates the related art LCD device.
As shown in FIG. 1, the related art LCD device includes a liquid crystal panel 10, the FPC film 20, and a printed circuit board (PCB) 30.
The liquid crystal panel 10 includes an upper substrate 12 and a lower substrate 14. Although not shown, a liquid crystal layer is formed between the upper substrate 12 and the lower substrate 14. Herein, a size of the lower substrate 14 is larger than a size of the upper substrate 12, whereby some areas of an upper surface of the lower substrate 14 are exposed to the external, wherein a driving integrated circuit (driving IC) 16 is formed on the exposed area of the upper surface of the lower substrate 14. The driving IC 16 supplies a gate signal or a data signal to a gate line or a data line formed on the lower substrate 14.
The FPC film 20 is connected with the driving IC 16 and the PCB 30, whereby the FPC film 20 transmits a control signal from the PCB 30 to the driving IC 16. A base material of the FPC film 20 is a flexible polymer film so that the FPC film 20 is easily bent, and the control signal is transmitted through a micro line printed on the flexible polymer film.
Also, one side of the FPC film 20 is fixed to the lower substrate 14, and the other side of the FPC film 20 is detachably connected with the PCB 30. For the detachable connection with the PCB 30, a connector 25 is provided at the other side of the FPC film 20.
The PCB 30 is a circuit board obtained by printing a micro line on a predetermined board, wherein various devices are mounted on the PCB 30.
A mating connector 35 is provided at one side of the PCB 30. Thus, the mating connector 35 of the PCB 30 is combined with the connector 25 of the FPC film 20.
Hereinafter, a process for combining the mating connector 35 of the PCB 30 and the connector 25 of the FPC film 20 with each other will be described as follows.
FIG. 2 is a cross sectional view illustrating a process for combining the mating connector 35 of the PCB 30 and the connector 25 of the FPC film, which is a cross sectional view along A-A of FIG. 1.
As shown in FIG. 2, the connector 25 of the FPC film 20 is obtained by forming a pad layer 27 on a flexible polymer film 26. The connector 25 of the FPC film 20 is inserted into the inside of the mating connector 35 of the PCB 30, whereby the two connectors 25 and 35 are combined with each other.
However, the related art method has the following disadvantages.
During the process for inserting the connector 25 of the FPC film 20 into the inside of the connector 35 of the PCB 30, a worker bents the connector 25 of the FPC film 20 at a predetermined angle, whereby a crack occurs in a bent region of the pad layer 27 formed in the connector 25 of the FPC film 20. Similarly, a crack may occur in the pad layer 27 during the process for detaching the connector 25 of the FPC film 20 from the connector 35 of the PCB 30.